I am going to teach the standard undergraduate Logic course for math and engineering majors. What are good (bad) text-books and why. I have not taught that course for a while and wonder if there are new good books. Also those who took/taught such a course recently, please let me know your opinion about the text you used. I do not need Computer Science applications (I can include them myself, if needed). Just a standard first course in Mathematical Logic.

A standard logic course for math majors, that I've heard, but for engineering majors too? There must be some really philosophically inclined engineering students at Vanderbilt. :)
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KConradNov 2 '10 at 23:08

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@Keith: cicadas are discussed here: mathoverflow.net/questions/43397/…. Seriously though, engineers use propositional logic and all sorts of non-standard logics alot, in problems related to control of complex systems, for example. I once helped supervise a PhD student in engineering applying non-standard logics
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Mark SapirNov 3 '10 at 0:18

One problem with mathematical logic is that the point of much of the care that some seemingly obvious issues need to be addressed is lost without deep examples. I felt like Kunen's book on Set Theory and Independence Proofs, for example, was the first time I really truly understood some of the import of abstract notions of incompleteness one learns in logic. When you actually see models with CH and with not-CH, you see why this stuff matters in a way that is hard to just learning logic alone. Of course, you do need some logic to understand Kunen.
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TLssSep 17 '12 at 16:36

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I have taught an undergrad course out of Enderton's "A Mathematical Introduction to Logic". I thought it was very accessible and was relatively modern in its viewpoint. I chose it somewhat by default, and at first I wasn't sure about it, but it grew on me during the semester. It's certainly worth looking into.

The best undergraduate textbook I've ever seen on mathematical logic is Wolfe's A Tour Through Mathematical Logic. I couldn't put it down,it was THAT fascinating. It covers virtually a complete overview of mathematical logic with many historical notes and sidebars illustrating the field in the context of a grand story with a cast of thousands and touches on virtualy all aspects of the field, from classical logic to axiomatic set theory to computability to forcing and large cardinals.What it lacks in depth,it more then makes up for in both breadth and a fascinating selection of topics and insights.

Imagine that: a READABLE text on mathematical logic.And best of all,unlike most standard logic books,the reader's not left wondering,"Yeah,ok-but why is all that important?"

Wolfe works really hard to not only show why HE thinks it's important-but why the founders of the subject thought it was in thier own words.

The best introduction to logic that I have seen is Kenneth Kunen's recent book, "The Foundations of Mathematics" (ISBN: 978-1-904987-14-7), published in 2009. The book provides a brief introduction to axiomatic set theory, model theory, and computability theory; and it culminates with a proof of Godel's incompleteness theorems and Tarski's theorem on the non-definability of truth. There are also a couple brief discussions of the philosophy of mathematics; these are given from the perspective of the working mathematician, and they are used to motivate the material. And they are very helpful. In fact, the most salient thing about this book is that it is exceptionally clear, well-written, and easy to learn from. (Kunen also wrote "Set Theory: An Introduction To Independence Proofs" which is also exceptionally clear, well-written, and easy to learn from). The book's only prerequisite is the mathematical maturity that an Introduction to Analysis course would provide, and it is available (new) on amazon.com for less than $25.

I really like "Introduction to Mathematical Logic" by Mendelson. It covers the topics with appropriate rigor and thoroughness. It covers up through (in)completeness and has two extra chapters on set theory and computability. Plenty of exercises (with partial solutions) too.

Thanks! You mean the classic text by Mendelson? I have the Russian translation, I think. Amazon says that the 5th edition (2009) is available and is in stock.
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Mark SapirNov 2 '10 at 22:14

That's the one. It even has a fancy new cover now.
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Joe JohnsonNov 2 '10 at 22:28

I checked: yet I do have the Russian translation (1971). That means I probably used this book as a textbook when I took my first Logic course (1974).
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Mark SapirNov 2 '10 at 22:31

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I've self studied by "Introduction to Mathematical Logic" by Mendelson (russian translation) in 1985 and liked it, mostly because this was the only game in town. Today I would enjoy LPL by Barwise & Etchhemendy more for 2 reasons: it is less dry, and it has supporting software.
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Tegiri NenashiJun 14 '11 at 21:34

I really wouldn't recommend Mendelson. Great when it first came out in the sixties, but most students will find it quite unnecessarily hard going (it's logical systems are not nice ones to use, and the book goes for excess rigour at the expense of attractive explanations of why the subject unfolds as it does).
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Peter SmithSep 16 '12 at 13:17

Kaye, R., 'Mathematics of Logic' is a good first-year text. Also consider Boolos 'Computability and Logic', but this could get in the way if you have a particular way of teaching CS/computability topics.

I prefer these to the Mendelson - which I found a bit confusing for the sake of formal accuracy. Kaye, by example, avoids too much technical jargon, and keeps to the ideas in play, building to a completeness theorem.

Thank you! I used classical texts mentioned above. Both are too formal and treat computability, in particular, in a very outdated way. So I had to write my own notes. Also I included Ehrenfeucht games and elementary equivalence in general which is also missing in these texts. If I teach logic again, I will choose a different text.
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Mark SapirJun 15 '11 at 0:16

From what I have read (which is quite a bit) I haven't found many textbooks that treat logic in the way it is researched/studied today. Unfortunately, this means that writing your own notes seems to be the norm! Then again, there's probably a lot of monographs waiting to be fleshed out! Every cloud, silver lining...
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user15756Jun 15 '11 at 7:01

I'm fond of Cori and Lascar's "Mathematical logic" -- it comes in two volumes ; the first covers propositional calculus, boolean algebras, predicate calculus and completeness theorems, while the second dives into recursion theory, Gödel's theorems, set theory and model theory. It's well explained, with detailed proofs and nice exercises.

@Andrew & @Mark - Just read the 3rd and 4th chapters (that is, the ones that overlap with my current research) and yes, the book by Wolf is excellent! (Preview is on Google Books) I can secondarily recommend it! The start of each chapter is verbose, and scant in technical detail, but it fleshes out the ideas very nicely and succinctly. Also, it reads like most lecturers talk - then you turn around and see just how much ground and technical detail HAS been covered, and I have to say, I was very impressed. If you don't choose it as a textbook, then most certainly secondary/pre-course reading! There are a few typos (one in a definition... :-S ), but the survey of the subjects, without getting bogged down in detail that those starting out don't appreciate nor necessarily need, is excellent.

Boolos, Burges, and Jeffreys' book "Computability and Logic" (I think it's now in its fifth edition?) is by far the best logic book I've ever run into. The first chunk of the book is focused specifically on computability theory, but one can skip right to the presentation of first-order logic, which is absolutely fantastic. The book covers a number of topics which don't tend to appear in basic logic books - modal logic, second-order logic, forcing in arithmetic - but is still a first introduction to the subject. It's wonderfully written, too.

I also quite like Ebbinghaus, Flum, and Thomas' book "Mathematical Logic," but not as much.

If I remember correctly, the book of Ebbinghaus, Flum, and Thomas contains details of some basic arguments that are often swept under the rug. So if you don't want to talk about these in class and don't trust your students to do them as exercises, then this book would be a useful text or supplementary reference. It also covers some material not usually done in first courses in logic, like Lindström's characterization of first-order logic by abstract properties. (I'm away from home, so I can't easily verify that my memory about this book is correct.)
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Andreas BlassSep 17 '12 at 12:33